Under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (the" EP Regulations") certain listed industrial activities and businesses require an Environmental permit from the regulator before they can operate. Local Authority Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC)
The EP Regulations 2010 were introduced on the 6 April 2010, replacing the 2007 Regulations. The regulations (Statutory Instrument 675) can be viewed on the governments' legislation website.
In 2007 the Regulations combined the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) and Waste Management Licensing (WML) Regulations. Their scope has since been widened to include water discharge and groundwater activities, radioactive substances and provision for a number a number of Directives, including the Mining Waste Directive
You must have an environmental permit if you operate a regulated facility in England or Wales.
A regulated facility includes:
Listed activities include:
Listed activities are divided into three categories: Part A (1), Part A(2) and Part B.
Part A permits control activities with a range of environmental impacts, including:
Part B permits control activities which cause emissions to air.
The permit your business requires depends on the specific processes involved and resulting emissions.
Permits are available from the Environment Agency or your local authority (the regulator) depending upon the category your business falls within:
mining waste operations are regulated by the Environment Agency.
The Part A2 activities regime is known as Local Authority Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (LA-IPPC). These tend to be less complex than A1 activities.
It regulates emissions to air, land and water and the impacts of noise, waste and energy efficiency.
Part B activities are those that have less potential to cause pollution and include activities such as vehicle re-spraying, crematoria, small foundries, coating processes and unloading of petrol. The Part B activities regime is known as Local Authority Pollution Prevention and Control (LAPPC).
Applications must be made on the form provided by the regulator and must include specified information which will vary depending on the operation.
Application forms available:
- Small Waste Oil Burner
- A2 Application Form
- Part B Application
- Part B Surrender
- Part B Transfer
- Petrol Station
- Dry Cleaners
A fee may be payable.
If further information is required the applicant will be notified by the regulator and they must provide this information or the application will be deemed to be withdrawn.
The application must be from the operator of the regulated facility.
For waste operations no licence will be granted unless any required planning permission had first been granted.
Operators of these activities must obtain a permit to operate. Application forms are available by telephoning the Environmental Protection team on 01206 282581.
An application fee (set by central government) must accompany the application for permit. For the part B and part A2 processes refer to the scale of charges published on the DEFRA web site.
The regulator will pay regard to the environment taken as a whole, in particular, preventing or, where that is not practicable, reducing emissions into the air water and land
The regulator may inform the public of the application and must consider any representations
The application must be from the operator of the regulated facility and the regulator must be satisfied that they must operate the facility in accordance with the environmental permit.
Permit applications must include a process description, details of emissions sources, methods of control and monitoring and management systems in place to demonstrate that Best Available Techniques (BAT) are being employed in accordance with the current government guidance.
Where a business fails to comply with the regulations, local authorities have the power to serve various types of notice and the power to prosecute. Where possible, however, authorities try to work with the operator to resolve problems.
All processes are inspected regularly by the regulating authority to ensure compliance. The frequency of inspection is governed by a method of risk-based scoring prescribed by DEFRA.
Under the 'polluter pays' principle, the operators of industrial plant are charged a fee for their permits to operate. The scale of charges is set by DEFRA annually, after consultation with Local Authorities, representatives of industry and other stakeholders. The scale of charges is designed to cover the regulatory and administrative costs (including visits, advice and time) to the regulator arising from each process.
A risk assessment is conducted on an annual basis. High risk installations pay more for their permits than medium or low risk installations. This approach both allows the fees to reflect more accurately the regulatory effort and to provide a financial incentive to operate the installation to the highest possible standards.
Further information on risk scoring and the summary of fees and charges applicable to any prescribed process published by DEFRA are available via the link at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/environmental-permitting-resources-for-local-authorities
Colchester Borough Council and the Environment Agency permit a number of activities within the district, which may be viewed by clicking on the following link:
Public Register of Authorised Processes
Details of specific listed processes are available for members of the public to view by appointment free of charge at the Council offices in Colchester by telephoning 01206 282581.